I've come to sense a rising dissatisfaction in myself about certain viewpoints of those in the Church. By "the Church" I mean those in my limited sphere of influence, those within the church experiences that I've had since the beginning of my 10 year journey as a committed follower of Christ.
My dissatisfaction is that I see a growing trend of people "thinking away the Holy Spirit". The phrase that has been rolling around in my head, through probably not proper English, is "intellectualism". It's where understanding, perceiving, and judging spirituality through a cognitive lens is the end-all of our Christian walk.
Before I go further, please understand that I am not saying "throw away your brain" regarding faith. Please don't think that I in any way want people to stop thinking about Christ, His works, the Holy Spirit, theology or ANY of that. God instructed us to love him with every part of us, including our brains. In fact, I think that meditating on God is an act, a part of life, a discipline that can bring us closer to him.
But what I am seeing is that people are too willing to trade experience with God for an intellectual commentary about God. To have a collection of facts regarding Jesus is like having a collectable baseball card about Jesus. You can know all the stats you can possibly get about Jesus but never have an experience of meeting Him. Or worse yet, having met Him once at the moment of salvation and then gone on to be satisfied with collecting those cards and stats about Him, rather than a life-long, ever deepening relationship with Jesus.
And I feel like what has been happening among my local Christian community is that we judge experiences with Jesus based on the stats we've memorized. We discuss and argue and discern with knowledge that we've accumulated secondhand, none or little substantiated with current, intimate experiences with Jesus. Yes, Scripture gives us a foundation of truth on which to base our faith because it gives us a backdrop of the heart of our Father. It gives us a wealth of knowledge and a myriad of insights into God's character, into who Jesus is, who the Holy Spirit is. If the experiences that we have do not line up to the heart of God and line up with His character as outlined in the Scriptures, then we obviously need to be careful.
But please, let's not stop at the Scriptures! Let's carry the Scriptures with us as we run into the loving arms of our Father! I want to see God hit home runs, just like it says on His card! I want to talk with Him about what He's done and I want to be with Him when He sets more records.
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Where do you live?
Ever have those times when God gives you glimpses of the calling, destiny, purpose, and/or future set before you? Maybe some of you live there - and that's what makes you the incredible visionaries that you are. Maybe you've never experienced that. I don't live there. Usually, I live with the sensation, or the underlying instinct that I'm either going the right way, or slightly off-track, or majorly off track - but just generally plodding along, "following my nose" to the general destination that I sense God is taking me to. However, occasionally I get flashes of "this" or pictures of "that" - sensations of possibility, glimpses into the "could be's," but also the "will be's". And to be honest, it kind of takes my breath away.
When I was a new Christian, I asked God to help me see the reasons why things happened, and see the connections behind things, to see how certain circumstances affected me and helped me grow. I asked Him that because I knew that if I didn't see the growth, then I would get discouraged and wouldn't last out the journey. A few years ago, I was in the middle of working out a few, ahem, personality quirks, "flesh" or "old man" reactions - and I was so overcome with what seemed like the impossibility of getting over my sinful nature. But then, every so often for a few weeks, God would give me a sudden glimpse, just like a flash of sunlight off a passing car, of the woman of God that I would become. It was extremely encouraging, because I didn't have to focus on what I was, or what I wasn't, or what I was struggling with; I could focus on the promise of God, that "he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ" (Phil 1:6).
One of the burning desires of my heart is to persevere, to live a life of ministry and not burn out. I don't want to be a statistic. I feel the call to minister, have felt it since I was sixteen (at least), and I want to live it out "until Jesus comes, or takes me home." And I think one of the ways - at least for me - to prevent burnout and to endure, is to focus on the promises of God in my life. I could focus on the negative in my life - all the things that I wish were happening, in and out of ministry, and are not (and to be honest, I live there far more frequently than I should) - but instead I need to choose to focus on what God said will be. He's said some pretty big things to me. And I need to look for what God is saying is and will, not what isn't and hasn't. I need to look for the promises. I read a colleague's blog recently and I was pretty inspired. In it he talks about changing his mindset from seeing his church grow big in the next 20 years to seeing his city changed and impacted in the next 20 years. Talk about vision! Man, my heart leaps in me when I read that. Something in me does a fist-pump in the air and yells, yes!
The Bible talks about how "where there is no vision, the people perish" (Prov 29:18). The ESV says, "Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint." There have been many times when I have felt like I was living less than the "abundant life" that Jesus promised, and I am sure that it's had to do with feeling directionless. (God knows, I need direction! I'm SO a roadmap kind of person!). I want to live in the promises of God. I'm not saying that I want to live in the clouds and la-la land and not have to deal with anything. I'm talking, living with "every spiritual blessing" that Ephesians refers to, as reality in my life. Living with the "God says it, so it is" mindset, and the "God showed me, so this is where I'm heading" mindset. The "yes and amen" mindset, the "I can do all things through Him who gives me strength" mindset.
I don't want to live just "plodding along". I want to live in a place of prophetic vision, for my life, for the ministry that God has called me to; for myself and on behalf of and for the benefit of the people I minister to.
When I was a new Christian, I asked God to help me see the reasons why things happened, and see the connections behind things, to see how certain circumstances affected me and helped me grow. I asked Him that because I knew that if I didn't see the growth, then I would get discouraged and wouldn't last out the journey. A few years ago, I was in the middle of working out a few, ahem, personality quirks, "flesh" or "old man" reactions - and I was so overcome with what seemed like the impossibility of getting over my sinful nature. But then, every so often for a few weeks, God would give me a sudden glimpse, just like a flash of sunlight off a passing car, of the woman of God that I would become. It was extremely encouraging, because I didn't have to focus on what I was, or what I wasn't, or what I was struggling with; I could focus on the promise of God, that "he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ" (Phil 1:6).
One of the burning desires of my heart is to persevere, to live a life of ministry and not burn out. I don't want to be a statistic. I feel the call to minister, have felt it since I was sixteen (at least), and I want to live it out "until Jesus comes, or takes me home." And I think one of the ways - at least for me - to prevent burnout and to endure, is to focus on the promises of God in my life. I could focus on the negative in my life - all the things that I wish were happening, in and out of ministry, and are not (and to be honest, I live there far more frequently than I should) - but instead I need to choose to focus on what God said will be. He's said some pretty big things to me. And I need to look for what God is saying is and will, not what isn't and hasn't. I need to look for the promises. I read a colleague's blog recently and I was pretty inspired. In it he talks about changing his mindset from seeing his church grow big in the next 20 years to seeing his city changed and impacted in the next 20 years. Talk about vision! Man, my heart leaps in me when I read that. Something in me does a fist-pump in the air and yells, yes!
The Bible talks about how "where there is no vision, the people perish" (Prov 29:18). The ESV says, "Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint." There have been many times when I have felt like I was living less than the "abundant life" that Jesus promised, and I am sure that it's had to do with feeling directionless. (God knows, I need direction! I'm SO a roadmap kind of person!). I want to live in the promises of God. I'm not saying that I want to live in the clouds and la-la land and not have to deal with anything. I'm talking, living with "every spiritual blessing" that Ephesians refers to, as reality in my life. Living with the "God says it, so it is" mindset, and the "God showed me, so this is where I'm heading" mindset. The "yes and amen" mindset, the "I can do all things through Him who gives me strength" mindset.
I don't want to live just "plodding along". I want to live in a place of prophetic vision, for my life, for the ministry that God has called me to; for myself and on behalf of and for the benefit of the people I minister to.
Monday, September 5, 2011
Ezekiel 34: The Good Shepherd
I have been slogging my way through the Major Prophets (currently, Ezekiel) in my devotions recently. I say slogging not because I don't like the books, nor because I am finding nothing of interest or relevance; rather because it is hard to sit by and read about Israel's continued obstinance. The book describes their sin in gruesome detail, and sheds a bit of light on why God is so upset. In one of the books, God says that they did things that didn't even enter God's mind to do. The Israelites sacrificed their children in a burning idol to Molech. That hadn't been something that even entered God's mind for them to do. To me that speaks about the creative ability that God has given us - but I'll save that tangent for another blog.
The books that I've read recently are pretty heavy - yet scattered all through them are pockets of God's redemptive promises. This morning's read, for example: Ezekiel 34. God is rebuking the shepherds of Israel for neglecting their duties to feed them, and for taking advantage of the sheep (and eating them). Then God goes on to say how He would do the things the shepherds of Israel failed to do: seek out the scattered flock, rescue them, bring them out from the nations, and take care of them.
As I was reading this, it came to mind that obviously this was a Messianic prophecy - a passage fortelling the characteristics of the one whom God was going to send to save Israel, and furthermore the world - Jesus. It was interesting to discover the source of many references that Jesus makes during His ministry.
Here are a few that I came across:
1. Ezekiel 34:14-15: "I will feed them in good pasture, and on the mountain heights of Israel shall be their grazing land. There they shall lie down in good grazing land, and on rich pasture they shall feed on the mountains of Israel. I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down, declares the LORD God."
I know this one's not strictly from Jesus' ministry, but it does correlate: Psalm 23:1-2 "The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters."
2. Ezekiel 34:16: "I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will destroy [or, I will watch over]. I will feed them in justice."
Luke 4:17-19 [Jesus at the synagogue in Nazareth]: "And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, 'The Spirit of the Lord is upon me; because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour.'"
Luke 19:10: "For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost."
3. Ezekiel 34:15: "I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep"
John 4:23: [Jesus speaking to the woman at the well, answering her question of which mountain is the true place to worship God]: "But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him." I know this doesn't seem to directly compare, but it says to me that God was promising a direct relationship with his people. Shepherds guide, lead, protect, teach their sheep directly. Jesus takes out the question of location in worship and speaks of a direct relationship with the Father.
4. Ezekiel 34:17-22: "As for you, my flock, thus says the Lord God: Behold, I judge between sheep and sheep, between rams and male goats. Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture, that you must tread down with your feet the rest of your pasture; and to drink of clear water, that you must muddy the rest of the water with your feet? And must my sheep eat what you have trodden with your feet, and drink what you have muddied with your feet? Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD to them: Behold, I, I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. Because you push with side and shoulder, and thrust at all the weak with your horns, till you have scattered them abroad, I will rescue my flock; they shall no longer be a prey. And I will judge between sheep and sheep."
Matthew 23:1-4, 13-15, 23: "Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, "The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat, so practice and observe what they tell you--but not what they do. For they preach, but do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger....But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people's faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in...For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves....For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you have ought to have done, without neglecting the others.""
5. Ezekiel 34: 23, 24: "And I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd. And I, the LORD, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them. I am the LORD; I have spoken."
John 10:14-16: "I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd."
John 6:35, 48-51, 53-58: "Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst....I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh."...So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood lhas eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As othe living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.”"
The books that I've read recently are pretty heavy - yet scattered all through them are pockets of God's redemptive promises. This morning's read, for example: Ezekiel 34. God is rebuking the shepherds of Israel for neglecting their duties to feed them, and for taking advantage of the sheep (and eating them). Then God goes on to say how He would do the things the shepherds of Israel failed to do: seek out the scattered flock, rescue them, bring them out from the nations, and take care of them.
As I was reading this, it came to mind that obviously this was a Messianic prophecy - a passage fortelling the characteristics of the one whom God was going to send to save Israel, and furthermore the world - Jesus. It was interesting to discover the source of many references that Jesus makes during His ministry.
Here are a few that I came across:
1. Ezekiel 34:14-15: "I will feed them in good pasture, and on the mountain heights of Israel shall be their grazing land. There they shall lie down in good grazing land, and on rich pasture they shall feed on the mountains of Israel. I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down, declares the LORD God."
I know this one's not strictly from Jesus' ministry, but it does correlate: Psalm 23:1-2 "The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters."
2. Ezekiel 34:16: "I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will destroy [or, I will watch over]. I will feed them in justice."
Luke 4:17-19 [Jesus at the synagogue in Nazareth]: "And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, 'The Spirit of the Lord is upon me; because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour.'"
Luke 19:10: "For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost."
3. Ezekiel 34:15: "I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep"
John 4:23: [Jesus speaking to the woman at the well, answering her question of which mountain is the true place to worship God]: "But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him." I know this doesn't seem to directly compare, but it says to me that God was promising a direct relationship with his people. Shepherds guide, lead, protect, teach their sheep directly. Jesus takes out the question of location in worship and speaks of a direct relationship with the Father.
4. Ezekiel 34:17-22: "As for you, my flock, thus says the Lord God: Behold, I judge between sheep and sheep, between rams and male goats. Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture, that you must tread down with your feet the rest of your pasture; and to drink of clear water, that you must muddy the rest of the water with your feet? And must my sheep eat what you have trodden with your feet, and drink what you have muddied with your feet? Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD to them: Behold, I, I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. Because you push with side and shoulder, and thrust at all the weak with your horns, till you have scattered them abroad, I will rescue my flock; they shall no longer be a prey. And I will judge between sheep and sheep."
Matthew 23:1-4, 13-15, 23: "Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, "The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat, so practice and observe what they tell you--but not what they do. For they preach, but do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger....But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people's faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in...For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves....For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you have ought to have done, without neglecting the others.""
5. Ezekiel 34: 23, 24: "And I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd. And I, the LORD, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them. I am the LORD; I have spoken."
John 10:14-16: "I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd."
John 6:35, 48-51, 53-58: "Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst....I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh."...So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood lhas eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As othe living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.”"
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Tithing and Trusting
This weekend I got to experience God's blessing.
People have said on many occasions that you can't out-give God. If you are faithful to tithe, to trust God with your finances, and step out in faith, then you will see and experience the providence of God in ways that would blow your mind.
I've heard that from more lips than I can count, and all from esteemed, well-established ministers who have walked that road and have come out with those experiences in hand. They know what they are talking about. I had thought that I was 'living by faith'. I thought that I was being obedient with my money. I have tithed all of my working life, and in fact have tried to make it a practice to give more than 10%.
But sometimes I get a little possessive with the rest of it. I am ok instituting rules in my life. Laws are easy. Religion is easy. It gives clear definitions on what is and isn't to be. There's no heart in it, no submitting to God, no listening to Him, other than the original heart transaction that caused the law to be instituted in the first place.
Listening to God, however, and "giving as God leads you" is more difficult. There is more room for self-justification, for doubt, for greed, for fear, or for any of those things to war against submission to, trust in, and relationship with God. It becomes easy to say, "Is God really asking me to give that?" or "But there are so many things that I could do with that instead/this is what I was planning on doing with that" or "If I give then I won't have enough for this".
I think part of the reason I get that way is this: I have not on a regular basis allowed room in my life for trusting God to provide. I mean like, provide in the extreme. I've had to trust God for student loans. But it's not like, trust for basic essentials of life: food, shelter, etc. If I didn't get student loans then I wouldn't go to school - but I could still eat. I still had a job and I could still travel, I could still do the things I wanted.
This weekend I went to Vancouver. It was my niece's birthday party this Saturday, and the majority of my family was going to be there. But it's super expensive to travel from Hardy to Vancouver. I desperately wanted to go but I knew that I couldn't afford it, and had decided to cancel my trip. But I said, "Ok God, if you want me to go, then you need to get me there."
A day or two later, a friend from Nanaimo texted me to tell me that she had tickets to a concert in Vancouver on Saturday night. She said that if I could get to Nanaimo then she could get me to Van. And it just so happened that one of my youth was moving to Parksville on Friday. So I asked, and his mom graciously let me hitch a ride with them, and even drove me the extra way to Nanaimo.
Here's where the extreme trusting comes in. I had set aside some money to go down. Things came up and I ended up having only the bare minimum to cover ferry costs and a little bit extra. I hadn't given my tithe yet, and I knew I could take it as a buffer. But God has also been challenging my heart position - to honour God by tithing FIRST, and trust him to provide for the rest. I had gotten into the habit of dipping into my tithe and repaying it later if I was running low on money and hadn't given my tithe yet. Kind of like a credit card. Essentially even though I was being technically obedient by eventually tithing, I wasn't trusting.
All those stories about God's providence and blessing came to mind - and I made a decision to give my tithe before I left for Vancouver. Let me tell you, I came away more blessed and with a surplus than what I had gone down with. The thing was, it was an active trust experience: the act of trust didn't stop with me tithing. I had to trust each time I went on the ferry; I had to trust each time I went to buy food; I had to trust each time I took transit, etc. And I watched the blessing and providence pour in.
Side note: God knows the desire of our hearts. As a teenager I loved the band that we went to see. I only dreamed of seeing them, then the opportunity was lost as they disbanded. But they have a comeback tour more than a decade later - and I get to see them for free! A desire and a love that I had as a teenager - God cared about. Interesting thing - halfway during the concert, a woman that worked there gave us free tickets to the same band for the next night's show, only better seats. It was blessing and favour - and I felt God say that not only did he have a different blessing for me that next night, but also that I was to pass on a blessing. So I declined to go - and got to pass God's goodness on to someone else.
Through people, this weekend, God showed his love, favour, providence, and blessing to me. People spontaneously gave to me, wanted to bless me. I came back home with boxes of things that I needed and a cheque in my pocket. I came back refreshed, relaxed, and with far more than I had left with.
God knows what I need. God knows what you need. And he knows the desires of our hearts - remembers them, even if we forget. And he gives more than we even ask or imagine. I want to live from a place of implicit, extreme trust - because I know that it's the safest place to be.
People have said on many occasions that you can't out-give God. If you are faithful to tithe, to trust God with your finances, and step out in faith, then you will see and experience the providence of God in ways that would blow your mind.
I've heard that from more lips than I can count, and all from esteemed, well-established ministers who have walked that road and have come out with those experiences in hand. They know what they are talking about. I had thought that I was 'living by faith'. I thought that I was being obedient with my money. I have tithed all of my working life, and in fact have tried to make it a practice to give more than 10%.
But sometimes I get a little possessive with the rest of it. I am ok instituting rules in my life. Laws are easy. Religion is easy. It gives clear definitions on what is and isn't to be. There's no heart in it, no submitting to God, no listening to Him, other than the original heart transaction that caused the law to be instituted in the first place.
Listening to God, however, and "giving as God leads you" is more difficult. There is more room for self-justification, for doubt, for greed, for fear, or for any of those things to war against submission to, trust in, and relationship with God. It becomes easy to say, "Is God really asking me to give that?" or "But there are so many things that I could do with that instead/this is what I was planning on doing with that" or "If I give then I won't have enough for this".
I think part of the reason I get that way is this: I have not on a regular basis allowed room in my life for trusting God to provide. I mean like, provide in the extreme. I've had to trust God for student loans. But it's not like, trust for basic essentials of life: food, shelter, etc. If I didn't get student loans then I wouldn't go to school - but I could still eat. I still had a job and I could still travel, I could still do the things I wanted.
This weekend I went to Vancouver. It was my niece's birthday party this Saturday, and the majority of my family was going to be there. But it's super expensive to travel from Hardy to Vancouver. I desperately wanted to go but I knew that I couldn't afford it, and had decided to cancel my trip. But I said, "Ok God, if you want me to go, then you need to get me there."
A day or two later, a friend from Nanaimo texted me to tell me that she had tickets to a concert in Vancouver on Saturday night. She said that if I could get to Nanaimo then she could get me to Van. And it just so happened that one of my youth was moving to Parksville on Friday. So I asked, and his mom graciously let me hitch a ride with them, and even drove me the extra way to Nanaimo.
Here's where the extreme trusting comes in. I had set aside some money to go down. Things came up and I ended up having only the bare minimum to cover ferry costs and a little bit extra. I hadn't given my tithe yet, and I knew I could take it as a buffer. But God has also been challenging my heart position - to honour God by tithing FIRST, and trust him to provide for the rest. I had gotten into the habit of dipping into my tithe and repaying it later if I was running low on money and hadn't given my tithe yet. Kind of like a credit card. Essentially even though I was being technically obedient by eventually tithing, I wasn't trusting.
All those stories about God's providence and blessing came to mind - and I made a decision to give my tithe before I left for Vancouver. Let me tell you, I came away more blessed and with a surplus than what I had gone down with. The thing was, it was an active trust experience: the act of trust didn't stop with me tithing. I had to trust each time I went on the ferry; I had to trust each time I went to buy food; I had to trust each time I took transit, etc. And I watched the blessing and providence pour in.
Side note: God knows the desire of our hearts. As a teenager I loved the band that we went to see. I only dreamed of seeing them, then the opportunity was lost as they disbanded. But they have a comeback tour more than a decade later - and I get to see them for free! A desire and a love that I had as a teenager - God cared about. Interesting thing - halfway during the concert, a woman that worked there gave us free tickets to the same band for the next night's show, only better seats. It was blessing and favour - and I felt God say that not only did he have a different blessing for me that next night, but also that I was to pass on a blessing. So I declined to go - and got to pass God's goodness on to someone else.
Through people, this weekend, God showed his love, favour, providence, and blessing to me. People spontaneously gave to me, wanted to bless me. I came back home with boxes of things that I needed and a cheque in my pocket. I came back refreshed, relaxed, and with far more than I had left with.
God knows what I need. God knows what you need. And he knows the desires of our hearts - remembers them, even if we forget. And he gives more than we even ask or imagine. I want to live from a place of implicit, extreme trust - because I know that it's the safest place to be.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
James 1:2-4
This morning I read,
"Count it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."
What is the full effect of steadfastness? What does it look like to let steadfastness have its full effect? It implies that we can cut steadfastness short. So what does that look like?
"Count it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."
What is the full effect of steadfastness? What does it look like to let steadfastness have its full effect? It implies that we can cut steadfastness short. So what does that look like?
Monday, January 10, 2011
Song for the day
Love these lyrics by Brooke Fraser:
Walking, stumbling on these shadowfeet
towards home, a land that i've never seen
I am changing; less and less asleep
made of different stuff than when I began
And I've sensed it all along
fast approaching is the day
When the world has fallen out from under me
I'll be found in you, still standing
When the sky rolls up and the mountains fall on their knees
When time and space are through
I'll be found in you
There's distraction buzzing in my head
Saying in the shadows it's easier to stay
But I've heard rumours of true reality
Whispers of a well-lit way
When the world has fallen out from under me
I'll be found in you, still standing
When the sky rolls up and the mountains fall on their knees
When time and space are through
I'll be found in you
You make all things new
When the world has fallen out from under me
I'll be found in you, still standing
Every fear and accusation under my feet
When time and space are through
I'll be found in you
"Shadowfeet" - Brooke Fraser
Walking, stumbling on these shadowfeet
towards home, a land that i've never seen
I am changing; less and less asleep
made of different stuff than when I began
And I've sensed it all along
fast approaching is the day
When the world has fallen out from under me
I'll be found in you, still standing
When the sky rolls up and the mountains fall on their knees
When time and space are through
I'll be found in you
There's distraction buzzing in my head
Saying in the shadows it's easier to stay
But I've heard rumours of true reality
Whispers of a well-lit way
When the world has fallen out from under me
I'll be found in you, still standing
When the sky rolls up and the mountains fall on their knees
When time and space are through
I'll be found in you
You make all things new
When the world has fallen out from under me
I'll be found in you, still standing
Every fear and accusation under my feet
When time and space are through
I'll be found in you
"Shadowfeet" - Brooke Fraser
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